Unbelievable : why we believe and why we don't / Graham Ward.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 229-236) and index.

Part One: Belief in the making -- Into the cave: The archaeology of believing -- Signs of intention: The archaeology of believing -- Emerging from the cave: The architecture of believing -- A deep mind odyssey: The architecture of believing -- Part Two: Believability -- Sense and sensibility: The unbearable lightness of certainty -- The poetics of believing: Practising hope -- Part Three: The Making of belief -- Myths, lies and ideology: The politics of belief -- Faith: Following and formation.

Why believe? What kinds of things do people believe in? How have they come to believe them? And how does what they believe -- or disbelieve -- shape their lives and the meaning the world has for them? For Graham Ward, who is one of the most innovative writers on contemporary religion, these questions are more than just academic. They go to the heart not only of who but of what we are as human beings. Over the last thirty years, our understandings of mind and consciousness have changed in important ways through exciting new developments in neuroscience. The author addresses this quantum shift by exploring the biology of believing. He offers sustained reflection on perception, cognition, time, emotional intelligence, knowledge and sensation. Though the 'truth' of belief remains under increasing attack, in a thoroughly secularized context, Ward boldly argues that secularity is itself a form of believing. Pointing to the places where prayer and dreams intersect, this book offers a remarkable journey through philosophy, theology and culture, thereby revealing the true nature of the human condition.--